Weld-VR

For teachers that wants to upload images to Weld VR - Click here

It is well-known that Digitalization is a strategic objective for Högskolan Väst. In alignment with that, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are gradually getting more and more presence at different education levels, from undergraduate till courses developed for the industry on virtual factories. It is clear that the topic is interdisciplinary, and it is necessary is to build up the interdepartmental collaboration between the Engineering Department and the Economics and Informatics department.

In the division of Welding Technology, it is long since we have the vision to incorporate VR in our welding labs for several reasons; the VR labs can be applicable in both distance and campus education when the access to the labs is difficult (COVID-19), expensive (cost in metallographic preparations, in time or in materials) or dangerous (welding fumes, arc radiation, electric shock).

Objectives of the project

1.      To develop a VR lab for microscopy and a VR lab for welding processes. 

The students, after using the microscopy VR lab should be able to learn how to manipulate and work with a conventional optical microscope and they will learn about the microstructure of different metal alloys. After using the welding processes VR lab, the students will learn how the welding parameters influence the quality of the resulting welds.  

2.      To implement these labs in our courses, test them and have the opportunity to improve and adjust them with the input and feedback of real students.

In the development of IT applications, it is an essential part of the process to iterate and to try the applications with students in different courses and with different methods (VR vs desktop) in order to detect problems and to adjust and tune the applications.

3.       To disseminate the results of this project among the community, internally and externally.

It is necessary to communicate internally at university the existence of these labs, and to encourage the potential teachers to use it. It is necessary also to disseminate our work in the scientific community, and to prepare conference and/or journal publications related.

Results 

a.     Labs developed 

The application containing the microscopy and welding labs is available upon request as a Windows executable that can be run in either Desktop or VR mode (assuming the necessary equipment). 

Initial explorations of using Pixel Streaming have been made. Pixel Streaming makes it possible to run the application in Desktop mode from any computer through a web browser. It is even possible to run the application via a mobile phone, although this interaction is not currently enabled. Note, however, that this solution requires an instance running on cloud computers for each user and thus entails a running cost. 

We have also made a version of the application available via Oculus AppLabs, for test users. This required each user to be added to a list of testers but with that setup it is possible to download and update the application directly in the Oculus Meta Quest VR headset. 

b.      Implication in education at EI department 

This project has involved 12 students, resulting in 5 Bachelor thesis, 3 Master Theses and 5 course projects: 

Bachelor Theses: 

1.      Kiran Kumar, Spring 2020, EXM560- Bachelor thesis work in Mechanical Engineering: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1470769&dswid=-1879  

2.      Daniel Löfström & Marcus Nilsson, Spring 2021, EXI500- Bachelor in Informatics: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1578391&dswid=4190 

3.      Daniel Vrban & Victor Magnusson, Spring 2021, EXI500- Bachelor in Informatics: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1581549&dswid=-9249  

4.      Gabriel Wrede, Betiel Yohannes, Spring 2021, EXI500- Bachelor in Informatics: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1613597&dswid=-1841  

5.      Simon Hedlund, Spring 2021, EXI500- Bachelor in Informatics. 

6.      Henrik Lundberg & Sebastian Jubell, Spring 2022, EXI500- Bachelor in informatics:

Master Theses: 

1.      Zakarias Mortensen, Spring 2021, EXI802 – Degree Project in Informatics, Master: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1579249&dswid=-4994   

2.      Line Pedersen, Spring 2022, EXI802 – Degree project in Informatics, Master: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1674605&dswid=7969

3.      Daniel Löfström, Spring 2023, EXI802 – Degree project in Informatics, Master: (not available yet)

Course Projects: 

1.      Zakarias Mortensen, Daniel Saxin & Marcus Paulsson, Autumn 2020, IMC600 – Immersive Computing. 

2.      Line Pedersen, Autumn 2021, IMC600 – Immersive Computing.

3.      Christian Minardi, Carolin Svensson Tynkkynen, Linnéa Ahlqvist & Rebecka Johansson, Spring 2022, PPB302 – Projektarbete och Projektmetodik

4.      Daniel Löfström, Ami-Paula Andersson, Autumn 2023, IMC600 – Immersive Computing

5.      Olliver Andersson, Fredrik Jonsson, Mohamed-Ali Mneimne, Abdullahi Ali Ahmed Nur, Salim Radwan & Przemyslaw Walkowski, Spring 2023, PPB302 – Projektarbete och Projektmetodik

c.      Equipment acquired  

As per December 2021, the following equipment has been purchased: 

·        Soldamatic welding simulator  

·        HTC Vive Pro 2 – VR-headset 

·        HTC Vive Focus 3 – VR-headset 

·        DELL Precision Tower CTO - Stationary VR-computer 

·        Alienware M15 R4 – VR-laptop 

·        3D-model of Microscope ZEISS Axio Imager 2 

·        Oculus Quest 2 64 GB – VR-headsets (5) 

·        Varjo XR3 – VR-headset 

·        License for Reality Capture 

·        Alienware M17– VR-laptop 

Publications

Participation at the Annual Assembly of the IIW (International Institute of Welding) in July 2023 with a conference paper to disseminate the project.